Public Enemy

It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back

Discogs: https://www.discogs.com/release/5159474-Public-Enemy-It-Takes-A-Nation-Of-Millions-To-Hold-Us-Back

Year Of Release: 1988

Review

I bought this album on CD a year or two after it came out. I didn’t know a lot about Public Enemy, but I’d seen some of the clips on Rage (surprise!) and read about some kind of connection with Ice Cube and I thought that was something I should investigate. This was the first hip-hop album I’d heard that was a dizzying mix of political messaging and powerhouse vocal delivery, backed by Terminator X’s deft control of the turntables and an amazing overall sound from Hank Shocklee and the Bomb Squad. The sampling on this album? Crazy stuff. I had no idea at the time what most of the lyrics really meant, but I knew that they were covering some important topics.

I have a friend who has Chuck D’s number and talks with him from time to time. By all accounts he’s a super switched on guy and really knows what’s what. Which comes through in the album too. This is a hard album to skip tracks on, but standouts for me are Don’t Believe The Hype, She Watch Channel Zero?!, Black Steel In The Hour Of Chaos, and Party For Your Right To Fight.

If you want to read more about the background of this album, Christopher R. Weingarten does a pretty good job with his book in the 33 1/3 series. This album sparked a lifelong appreciation for Public Enemy and pretty much everything  the group has put out since.

Rating: 9/10